Mullah in a Burqa

Thursday 5th July 2007

Mullah in a Burqa

The standoff between the government's security forces and the
pro-Taliban radicals inside Islamabad's Lal Masjid, or
Red Mosque, continues. However, in a hilarious turn of events,
their leader, the revered Abdul Aziz, tried to flee the scene last night
disguised as a female ninja in a burka and was caught (as shown
in the Aaj TV image below).

This humiliation should have been enough for the rest to throw down
their arms and bring things to a conclusive end, but other than the
almost 2000 who have surrendered so far, the rest are still defiant, led
by Abdul Aziz's younger brother. The brother was interviewed live last
night by the media and was having quite some trouble explaining his
demands and the escape of his brother. Judging from what he said, it is
entirely possible that these "men" have gone out in burqas before,
which would explain a lot of things.

I think last night's event would lead to a single, most unexpected
and least violent outcome of the situation. Any other way (like say
bombing the area and vaporizing the idiots early on), the radicals would
have had the upper hand and things would have gotten messy for everyone.
Whether it was the government's extreme patience, or cowardice, holding
out for so long has gone in their favor. It almost seems that the whole
circus was a pre-planned conspiracy.